Want to take a sneak peak into the heart of my business?

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Below is a recent journal entry explaining the heart behind my photography business. Please enjoy!

When someone asked me a few years ago whether or not I could see myself doing photography more seriously after college, my short answer was always, “I don’t know, probably not.” I would explain this more and say: “I love it as a hobby, but I think if I were to try to turn it into a job, I would lose my love for it. I really don’t want to do that!”

That made sense to me at the time if I solely loved the photography aspect of it. But the Lord hasn’t called me to photography. He’s called me to people. Taking their photos is just a means to an end and that end is loving people with a camera in my hand.

My heart wasn’t afraid anymore

I was so scared of photography being something that I loved AND did for a living. I believe the reason for this is when I loved soccer so much, I put it above the Lord and I was forced to surrender it to Him. To this day, I truly don’t believe He has or will give it back, and I’m 100% OK with that.

But, subconsciously I believed that if I loved photography, I would maybe put it above the Lord and He would force me to surrender it. If I loved something too much, He would have to take it away.

Which is why it’s so beautiful to me now because when the Lord spoke to my heart saying: “I’m calling you to love people with a camera in your hand,” all of the pressure was immediately lifted off of my shoulders. It’s no longer my photography business that I get to love, it’s a heart for people. And if I’m loving the people, my job is so simple.

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What are my values?

There are four values that I base my photography business upon, and my heart is also for my clients to feel like they are known, loved, and served well by my photography. My four core values are Kindness, Integrity, Excellence, and Creativity. Continue reading, and I will dive a little deeper into each one!!

Kindness

I once heard it said, “I want to be known not by the things I achieved, or the people I knew, but by the kindness that my life displayed.” Kindness and compassion are two essential character qualities that can never be over emphasized. I fully believe that a kind demeanor stems from the inside out, and affects every part of a business. As a photographer, I want to be known for my kindness and compassion above all else.

Integrity

I am not naive enough to believe that the photography world is not extremely competitive and I am not here to sell you a product. I’m also not here to unfairly charge you for a service I am not completely willing and excited to provide! The saturation of the market does not intimidate me because I recognize that there is room for everyone. As a creative, we need others around us to push us to be better! I want to serve my clients fairly and with integrity.

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Excellence

My friend Courtney Smith wrote this, and it accurately describes my thoughts on excellence:

“With God being who He is, we should find ourselves striving for the excellence in all things. A God who is in authority over all things, who tells the wind where to go, knows the stars by name, has His eye on the sparrow, spoke all of creation into existence and breathed life into the dust of the ground, deserves nothing less than the very best that we can produce. An excellent God deserves excellence in return.”

“Every moment of work is a moment to honor, to glorify, to worship a most excellent God. So, I encourage you, put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord Himself and not merely for others.”

My friend, Courtney Smith

That is my heart, now let me hear yours! Tell me your story!